The Oldest Courses outside of GB&I by Ron Fream

[Ran Morrissett]

...is posted under In My Opinion.

Ron Fream has come up with a very cool list - the oldest golf courses outside of GB&I. They all pre-date my beloved Mar del Plata Golf Club which doesn’t even make the list because it didn’t debut until 1900 (though golf was played in the area a few years earlier).
 
Knowing where the Brits took golf is a fascinating history lesson: the top 10 in Ron's list all pre-date 1876 and the locations include India, Australia, France, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Indonesia. Lots of neat information is provided. First/oldest course outside of UK? Royal Calcutta – in 1829!!  Decades before Australia became a nation, Ratho Links existed. First course on continental Europe? Pau, 1856 in France. What were the Brits doing in those parts of the world? At Mara del Plata they were laying rail and improving infrastructure. Think about all the history and socialization!
 
Toward the end of Ron’s list you find the five founding clubs of what is now known as the United States Golf Association. I repeat: toward the end! You gain a lot of perspective contemplating the 36 courses that Ron references. Plus a tip of the hat to him for his intellectual curiosity on the subject. Not every architect displays the same.
 
This is an ever evolving list. Ron sent this to me during the first week of July -  and each week thereafter I got an updated version! I am posting this quick smart before version 6 appears.  Seriously, Ron hopes you can help add to this list of pre-1900 courses outside of GB&I. Already he wants to add Baltusrol whose original nine holes opened in 1895 with a second nine following in 1898.

All feedback is appreciated.
 
Best,

[Ronald Montesano]

One teeny point...Niagara On The Lake golf club is missing an "a" in Niagara.

[Steve Kline]

Pinehurst - 1898

[Ulrich Mayring]

My amendments / comments:

1) I re-iterate from the original thread: Royal Jersey 1878. Jersey is not part of Great Britain, but it is politically part of the "British Isles", although geographically it belongs to the European Continent. Maybe the list can be renamed to "outside of the British Isles", that would be grounds enough to exclude Jersey.

2) I find it difficult to determine, whether some of the beginnings of golf in Germany should be included in the list. Here's some data:

a) Golf was played in Bad Homburg's Kurpark in 1889, a formal course, parts of which still exist (but heavily modified), was introduced in 1894.

b) The following German clubs do not exist anymore, but did play golf in the 19th century:
- Cannstatter Fussballclub (1890)
- Darmstadt Golf Club (1892)

c) The following, still existing German golf clubs have since relocated their course, but did also play golf in the 19th century:
- Wiesbaden (1893)
- Berlin Wannsee (1895)

Ulrich

[Niall C]

Is Ron attempting to record the oldest clubs or the oldest courses outside of the UK, or perhaps both ?

Niall

[Alfonso Erhardt]

In Spain:

- Club de Golf de Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1891 by English merchants who traded out of the port of Las Palmas. The club is the oldest in Spain and it relocated in the 1950s to its current location.

- North Lode Golf Club, in Huelva. Huelva is close to the site of the Riotinto mining field which saw many Englishmen and Scots arrive to Spain in the 19th century. Play started in the Corta Atalaya location in 1891 and eventually moved in 1914 to another location. The club no longer exists. Huelva is home to most of the oldest clubs in Spain in any discipline (football, polo, etc.)

[Keith Durrant]

Dinard (1887) should qualify for inclusion:

http://www.dinardgolf.com/site/main.html

[Bob Jenkins]

Ran,

An addition to Ron's list would be Victoria Golf Club in Victoria, B.C. which was founded in 1893 and has remained at the same beautiful location since the club was founded. I was fortunate enough to play there once again with Bill and Kathleen McBride in late June.

Best regards,

Bob Jenkins

[Gary Slatter]

Ron, thanks for the list, I'm sure you'll receive a lot of further input now.  The Manchester GC in Jamaica is still the original nine holes, not played in the same order but the same original holes!   I loved my several visits to the course, fun golf with a town built around it.

[Bob Jenkins]

I just checked and Gearhart GC in Oregon, near Astoria, opened in 1892 and announce themselves as the oldest U.S. course west of the Mississippi>

[Ben Lovett]

 Istanbul Golf Club says on its website that it is the fourth oldest golf club in Europe. It was first opened in 1895 as the Constantinople Golf Club featuring 12 holes

[Brian Ross]

This course has been mentioned before in a thread by Sven and deserves inclusion on this list:

Middlesboro Country Club (1889) - 9 Holes
Middlesboro, KY

From their website:

"Middlesboro Country Club was established in 1889 by the English who settled in the region. Investors, away from their homes in England and far removed from their beloved game of golf, found the Yellow Creek Valley a suitable place for the building of a golf course and founded Middlesboro Country Club, now known as the oldest continuously played golf course in the United States."

The last part is obviously debatable, but this club should easily make it onto this list.

[jeffwarne]

Curious why no Palmetto, which, despite changes/expansion, has occupied the current site since 1892.
Being a  list of oldest courses(as opposed to clubs), not sure why courses completely relocated would qualify

[BCrosby]

Jeff -

I had the same thought. Palmetto was formed in 1892 with four holes. Leeds built the current 18 hole course circa 1894.

The Myopia Hunt course pre-dated Palmetto.

Bob

 

[Ricardo Ramirez Calvo]

Some clubs in Argentina are not mentioned: Hurlingham Club, founded in 1888 and Lomas Athletic Club founded in 1892. Both have golf courses since their founding. Cheers.

[Rick Shefchik]

Here's the most recent thread on the oldest courses in the U.S.:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,54616.0.html

The list currently looks like this:

1886
The Dorset Field Club, Dorset, VT

1887
The Foxburg Country Club, Foxburg, PA
Quogue Field Club, Long Island, NY

1888
The Saint Andrew's Club,  Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

1889
The Country Club of Middlesboro, KY. - 9 holes.
The Tuxedo Club, Tuxedo Park, NY (relocated)

1890
The Dutcher Golf Course, Pawling, NY – 9 holes

1891
Shinnecock Hills, Southampton, NY
Aetna Springs, Pope Valley, CA
Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, ME – 9 holes
Kebo Valley Golf Club, Bar Harbor, ME
Gearhart Golf Links, Gearhart, OR
Cheyenne Mountain Golf Club, Colorado Springs, CO


1892
Highland Links Golf Course, Cape Cod, MA – 9 holes
The Downers Grove Golf Club, Downers Grove, IL
The Old Course at the Homestead, Hot Springs, VA
Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken, SC
Mare Island Golf Club, Vallejo, California
Moorestown Field Club, Moorestown, NJ – 9 holes
Merchantville Country Club, Cherry Hill, NJ – 9 holes

1893
The Town & Country Club, St. Paul, MN
The Country Club, Brookline, MA

[PCCraig]

I think the list could stand to be updated or be more complete. My home course (Town and Country Club of St Paul) is older than a few of the clubs listed in the article. Founded 1888 golf on current property since 1893.